now and then
by cerrabella
Summary: the boy he was back then, and the man he is now... C.C. can't help but muse, "You really don't know what you have until it's gone."


Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass.

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"Lelouch, slow down!" the lime-haired girl warned passively as the young prince pulled her hand with him as he ran toward the grassy cliff facing the wide, endless azure ocean.

"Look! There's a boat coming." His bright violet eyes sparkled at such a simple and insignificant sight and she sighed. What a childish thing to do, C.C. mused. She then sat down onto the ground, pulled her legs up and wrapped her slender arms around them. Her radiant golden orbs stared impassively at the incoming white boat.

Up in the clear, cloudless skies, many pairs of seagulls soared by, and Lelouch looked up. His innocent, already wide smile widened. "So pretty…" he said softly with eyes glued to them. Once again, C.C. made no attempt to pretend she was admiring the mesmerizing beauty of this place. To her, everything was the same. Same old world. Same old people.

"C.C., you are a horrible baby-sitter," a familiar female voice came out from behind them, and the pair turned around in sync. Out of the woods came none other than Marianne, the black-haired Empress of the Holy Britannian Empire, the mother of Lelouch and Nunnally, and also a trusted friend of the grey witch.

"Mother!" exclaimed Lelouch excitedly as he ran toward his mother and was soon enveloped in her arms.

"How am I a horrible baby-sitter?" asked C.C. nonchalantly, to which the other woman answered slyly, "Because you're supposed to be making him happy, not the opposite."

"Do I make you unhappy, boy?" she addressed Lelouch. The boy's cheeks flushed before slowly shaking his head.

Marianne laughed. "I think he only did that because he was intimidated by you." Her luminous violet eyes softened as she reached out her hand to her son. "Come, Lelouch. It's time for tea."

"Will C.C. join us?" he asked meekly when he realized that the green-haired woman hadn't budged from her sitting position on the ground.

"Hmm, I don't think C.C. is the type to drink afternoon tea, right, C.C.?"

The witch shrugged. "I think that is a quite meaningless pastime," she commented off-handedly.

"Now don't say that." Marianne turned to her wide-eyed son and said, "It's not meaningless, Lelouch." Then a small smile crossed her face. "C.C. isn't from here so she doesn't fully understand our customs."

"Where is she from?" inquired the curious young prince.

Before Marianne got a chance to reply, C.C. beat her to it. "Marianne, don't go telling him things he shouldn't know about."

"Like what?" Lelouch pressed.

Just at that moment, the green-haired witch caught a glimpse of a shrewd smirk gradually blossoming on the older woman's face, and something in her guts stirred.

"Lelouch," said Marianne as she cocked her head to one side. Her eyes never left her son's identical ones. "Have you ever wondered what C.C.'s real name is? Surely you must be aware that 'C.C.' is just an acronym of some sort."

"Marianne…" warned C.C. through gritted teeth. "Don't."

The smirk widened considerably and turned impossibly mischievous. "It's-"

"Marianne!"

"…" As expected of the kind prince, a soft smile of sincerity tugged at the corners of his lips. "What a beautiful name," he mused aloud.

* * *

"I know what you're trying to do, Lelouch," C.C. said lowly that night when they got back home safely from the attack at the mountain. She had been seriously injured because he had interfered. But after all, he was the one who saved her, and damn fate because the result of that chain of events was he unexpectedly learned her name. This time, she was sure it'd stick.

"But you can't stop me, ...," he said, smirking cruelly.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Why don't you like to hear it? Your own name, out of all things?"

"Because it reminds me of the painful memories," she gritted her teeth.

He studied her for a split second. "It certainly sounds more human than C.C."

"I don't care. I'm not human. Can we let it go? Why are you so persistent, boy?" The yellow stuffed toy was unconsciously squeezed tighter in her arms.

That winning smirk was still dancing on his lips when he replied, "You're a witch, C.C. There's nothing about you that's human."

Her eyes widened. Suddenly, flashbacks came and in front of her stood a young and innocent and cheerful and joyful boy. Back then, she disliked his constant smile and happy-go-lucky attitude. Now, before her stood a cold and calculating and frozen teen with a scornful attitude. Oh, how she wished she could meet that boy from her past again.

"You…" She composed herself relatively quickly. "Yes, I am a witch. I granted you the power of Kings. I changed your life, I made your wishes come true. I-"

She drew in a breath as he suddenly leaned in close… So close that she could smell his minty breath. "You also took away the innocent part of my life. You're the reason I've become a murderer."

"You're going to blame me for that?" she snapped. "It's you who made the choices, not I."

He withdrew and dug his hands in his pockets. "True, but you gave me the tools to do so." Then that hateful smirk was back. "…"

That night, C.C. had to shut her eyes so tightly and almost suffocated her beloved Cheese-kun in an effort to swallow back the bitter tears.

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A/N: Don't get me wrong, I love Lelouch and C.C. together but sometimes I just have to wonder if there's more to their complicated relationship, like if things like this would actually happen. We all know how, sometimes, easily Lelouch snaps, especially when it concerns those he loves. And after the attack at the mountain, he goes to the opera to meet with Shirley only to find out that she's lost her father. So I suppose this takes place soon after that. And uhm sorry if it's too short and kind of goes nowhere... Regardless! I hope you enjoyed my first fic :) Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated!

Oh and one more thing, those three tiny dots stand for her real name, but I'm sure you already knew that lol.


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